About Me

My name is Shelly. Since May 2011 I have lost 85 pounds, and I am still working hard to make it at least an even 100 pounds!

I hope that by reading my blog, people struggling with similar issues will be inspired – because if I can do this, anyone can!

I struggled with my weight for decades due to hypothyroidism, which was made worse by yo-yo dieting and ineffective/unhealthy diet fads. I tried so many things to lose weight and was literally at my wits end when I signed up for boot camp in 2011. I figured if that didn’t work, I was out of ideas.

When I started boot camp classes, I kept a journal every day and posted progress updates often on Facebook. I did the same thing when I started running and practicing yoga.

I had tremendous hope for weight loss success, but in my wildest imagination I never dreamed where this journey would actually take me, all the challenges and obstacles I would face, and especially that anyone (other than my family and close friends) would be interested in any of it.

In 2011, or even most of 2012, if anyone would have told me I would finish my first half marathon in October 2012, I would have laughed and said they were insane. I could hardly sustain a run around the block in boot camp classes! Don’t ever sell yourself short – set that bar high and work towards your goals in manageable pieces. Celebrate every milestone along the way! You will never know what you are capable of unless you give it a shot! I am living proof of that!

My race medals and bibs from 2012 – 2015

My first year of races 2012 – 2013

After numerous “how did you do it” questions, and encouragement from others, I thought it might be a useful tool to help others to create a blog about my experiences.

I have compiled my journal entries, Facebook posts/comments, and iPhone app data and notes into this blog to share my weight loss and “journey to fitness” story and to also chronicle my training and preparation efforts for future races and trekking journeys around the world.

Mt. Everest has been fascinating to me for as long as I can remember. When I read the book Into Thin Air in 1997, I could not put it down. I read it straight through, staying up all night. I had been on the internet watching that tragic season in 1996 because I was obsessed with the IMAX movie being filmed.

I will never forget the horror I felt reading about what happened, and then reading the book about it later. I have a blog post that will explain my interest in more detail, but in a nutshell at the very top of my bucket list was a visit to Everest Base Camp.

That dream was realized for my 50th birthday in 2017 – and it was the most difficult physical and mental challenge of my life to complete that trek to Everest base camp! I have detailed journals I am working on entering to this blog, and thousands of pictures I am still sorting through. My next epic adventure will be the Inca Trail Trek to Machu Picchu!

I sincerely hope everyone who reads my blog will find something to relate to about me, and will find the strength within themselves to pursue what was thought to be impossible.

My blog name Nowhere Girl comes from the title of my very most favorite song, a new-wave “one-hit wonder” from the early 80s by the group B Movie. They never made an official video for the song (MTV was still rather new in 1982), but there are various videos on You Tube people have made for the song over the years, and this is one of them:

There is about 3 minutes of instrumental introduction before they actually start singing the lyrics, and this music actually epitomizes everything I love about 80s New Wave! The lyrics have always been personally meaningful, describing me as a troubled teenager in the middle of my parents bitter divorce, on up through multiple challenges in my adult life where I have coped in a “self-enforced exile” that I’m sure has often frustrated close friends and family.

Nowhere girl, you’re living in a dream
Nowhere girl, you stay behind the scenes
Nowhere girl, you never go outside
Nowhere girl, because you prefer to hide

Every day, every night
In that old familiar light
You hung up when I called you at home
And I try to get through
And I try to talk to you
But there’s something stopping me
From getting through

Nowhere girl, what you have you need
Nowhere girl, all functional and neat
Nowhere girl, in self enforced exile
Nowhere girl, a martyr like denial

Every day, every night
In that old familiar light
You hung up when I called you at home
And I try to get through
And I try to talk to you
But there’s something stopping me from getting through

Please feel free to contact me with any feedback or questions from the link in the menu bar above.

It was a difficult decision for me to make before pictures public and to reveal some very personal (and embarrassing) details of my life in this fitness journey. I did so in order to provide realistic perspective about what it took to get where I am today, and thus am not shy and also not easily offended.

However, please understand that I am not a licensed personal trainer or a medical doctor, so all I can offer is my opinion, advice, and perspective – which I am happy to do.

I will respond to anyone who contacts me, but may not be able to answer questions about specific medical conditions or training issues other than giving advice about what I might do.

I must insist that you check with licensed experts before implementing anything I suggest or have written about in my blog.

To help you get to know me a little better, here is some additonal background information about me:

I have three grown children, Amanda, Brianna, and Matthew. All three have recently graduated from college and live in their own. I am grateful every day to have been given the blessing of being their mother, and am so proud of them! They are pictured below.

I put myself through ten years of college as a divorced single parent. I have an M.A. in Psychology & Social Behavior/Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine and I have worked as a college academic advisor for 15 years.

I was born and raised Mormon. Even though I have not been active in the church most of my adult life, it has profoundly influenced me and my perspective so I feel it is important to mention.

I lived in Southern California (Orange County) for 30 years before moving to the Pacific Northwest in 2010. We moved to Washington because of my ex husband’s job. We have been divorced for a few years now.

There is a bit of a gap in my posts because of what I was going through personally in my marriage. I am still working on typing my journal entries over those years to catch up. Michael is mentioned in many of my older blog posts so I figured I should offer some context here.

My self-discovery and healing efforts with therapy were largely inspired by the failure of my marriage. It is still an ongoing growth process, but my determination to get to the root of my dysfunctional attachment issues and communication problems has been extremely helpful so far in improving my mental health and well-being.